Springfield, IL – Horsemen’s Council of Illinois, The Voice of the Illinois Horse Industry, now is online with its re-designed and feature-enhanced web site at www.horsemenscouncil.org. 

The URL above puts searchers on what HCI calls its portal page. Clicking on icons from this landing page gives users access to specific sites for HCI, Illinois Equine Industry Research & Promotion Board and HCI’s two annual trade fairs, Illinois Horse Fair in March in Springfield and Equestrian Lifestyle Expo in November in Arlington Heights (Chicago). 

Among expanded features are a “Recent News” box on the HCI home page, which allows users to see the headlines before clicking a “Read more” line to get full stories. The section also has an archives area. 

HCI has made it more intuitive to use its CapWiz advocacy tool, which helps viewers identify and contact their elected officials in the Illinois General Assembly as well as the United States Congress. This also is the place where HCI helps users locate and track the status of legislation proposed to effect horses. 

The site lists key bills HCI monitors in various stages of review by the Legislature, currently including prohibiting tail docking, animal humane euthanasia, horse processing, welfare adoption micro-chipping, liability for companion animals, horse welfare act, veterinary student loan repayment and horse racing. The site lists similar bills in process through Congress. 

Available for download from the site are many of HCI’s educational brochures, such as  “The Basics of Horse Handling,” “Illinois Transportation and Ownership Transfer Regulations,” “Equine Liability Signs: It’s the Law,” “Responsible Horse Ownership,” and “Buying Your First Horse.” 

The site’s links section puts users into direct contact with a host of breed clubs, horse councils, equine emergency preparedness groups, equine rescue organizations, education and scholarship opportunities, trails information and much more. 

Current and past issues of the Council’s quarterly newsletter, The Courier, also are available for download from the site. 

A member benefits section provides details on the $1,000,000 equine excess liability insurance policy available free as part of an HCI individual membership, as well as forms to apply for scholarships or order equine liability signs at discounted prices. 

And, yes, there are prominent locations where horsemen can join HCI or sign up for legislative alerts to be emailed to them, allowing them to voice opinions and take action on pending legislation. 

- 041909 -